MS security report, Tiger

Microsoft employee Jeff Jones has published a Windows Vista one-year vulnerability report in his Security Blog that includes analysis of the Redmond-based company's newest operating system alongside its predecessor -- Windows XP -- and several competitors which include Apple's Mac OS X 10.4. A side-by-side patch event histogram comparison of Windows Vista vs. Mac OS X 10.4 shows that Windows Vista had fewer vulnerabilities and fewer times of concern for security teams.

"Windows Vista gain compares favorably against the other operating systems, having fewer vulnerabilities and having fewer weeks in which security upgrades potentially impacted security administrators," the report said.

Final observations show Vista in a positive light, focusing on positive points for Microsoft's newest operating system.

"My analysis found that researchers found and disclosed significantly fewer vulnerabilities in Windows Vista than either its predecessor product, Windows XP, or other operating systems such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and Apple Mac OS X 10.4."

Jones' analysis also found that administrators were required to mobilize and address security concerns much less often for Windows Vista than any other operating system examined.

by MacNN Staff